Wildwood Flower
by MeredithBrody
Summary: Pride convinces Brody to sing for him. (Pointless Fluff)(Prody)


**I don't remember how this idea came about, but I'm happy it did. I suggest listening to either June Carter or Reese Witherspoon's versions of this song, as they are what I had in mind while writing. Really, this is some pointless Prody fluff. As usual, please read and review!  
Shin xx**

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He'd been asking since Christopher had left, mostly because it seemed like the perfect opportunity. He didn't know what was going on with them, but since the whole deal with Baitfish had gone down, she'd been staying with him in the office more. Brody clearly wasn't enjoying his teasing tonight. In an interrogation a few weeks previously she'd let it slip that she'd sung in school. That had led to both of her colleagues begging her to sing for them. So far she hadn't given in. "Will you stop it. I'm trying to work."

"Meredith." He tried using her given name, just on the off chance that it worked. It had sometimes convinced her to get things off the printer for him. He doubted this would work, but it was worth a shot. He really just wanted to hear her sing.

"Nope, I'm not doing it." She shook her head, and all he could really think was that it had definitely been worth a try. He wasn't going to give up so easily. This had been the first night she'd stayed since the revelation had happened, and he thought he stood a better chance of a performance than Christopher did.

"Please?" He wasn't above begging. There were few things in life that were worth begging for, but those that came up he had no problem begging for. Maybe to others this wouldn't be a reason to beg, but for him this was the perfect reason.

"I'm not. Nope." Her face told the story, and it was clear that begging probably wasn't the right way to go. That wasn't really going to stop him though. He enjoyed pushing as far as he could.

"I just want to hear it." He continued, and he could tell it was still having no effect whatsoever on Brody.

"Nope." She was really sticking to her guns, but unlike their friend, he could sweeten the deal. He could offer to accompany her. They all knew already that he could play piano, they also knew he could sing, though he didn't do that very often either.

"I'll play the piano." He was going to do it. He'd offer to play, or sing with her, or whatever he needed to do. There was a possibility he wouldn't know the song, but he was going to hope that she'd pick one he might know too. "Name your tune."

That clearly got her attention, as she stopped shaking her head and took the time to look at him seriously. Maybe she was going to actually sing for him. Something that she hadn't done for anyone else. As she kept studying him for a second she then shook her head and replied. "A guitar would probably be better."

"Really?" He asked, wondering if she'd ever actually noticed that there were random instruments dotted all over their office, or if she thought most of them were just for show. In her defence, he probably would have thought most of them were for show too.

"If you play guitar, I'll sing. Providing you know the song."

"Name it." He was now going to take it as a challenge. If he didn't know it that would suck, but if he did he would be able to hear her sing. That was worth a bit of risk.

"Do you know Wildwood Flower?" She smiled, and clearly thought that she'd stumped him, oh how he hated to let her down.

"Which version?" He asked, knowing the song, but also knowing there were dozens of versions, and not all of them had the same chord progression.

"I'm best singing the June Carter version." She admitted, and Pride just smiled wider. He knew that version, it had been one of his mothers growing up, and he'd learnt the chord progression when he was around 11. It wasn't one he would forget. He wasn't going to tell her how he knew it though, not unless she asked. "Wait you have a guitar here?"

"Of course." He smirked and jumped out of his chair and walked to his not-so-secret hiding place for his guitar. It was one of the first instruments he'd ever learnt to play, and he still loved it, not as much as his piano though.

"How much of a music nerd are you?" She asked, and at least there was a hint of laughter in her voice at that. He was happier to hear her laughing, even if it was at his keeping musical instruments here in the office. Music had been his first love, and he would probably always love it.

"A pretty big one." He smirked as he sat down again, pulling his chair over toward where Brody was sat, glad that he kept the guitar in the kitchen. It meant he hadn't had to run all the way up to his room, giving her time to think it over. "Here."

"Alright, I'm going to regret this." She commented, looking at him with a combined look of annoyance and resignation, then sat up and took a breath in.

He started strumming the basic rhythm, remembering it from all the times he'd heard it play when he was younger. He couldn't help but just keep playing and listening to her voice. He knew that if he dared look at her he'd lose his position in the song. She sang it amazingly, and he almost couldn't believe that she'd finally given in. Christopher had been asking her to sing to them for weeks.

There was an emotion in her voice as she sang, and he realised that this wasn't her favourite song, or one she was just singing because she could. This was a personal song for her, something that had a deep meaning. Listening to the lyrics he realised this was possibly about the ex fiancé, the one she rarely spoke about. As he strummed the last few notes he dared look up, and noticed her wiping a few tears away.

"Sounds like you understand what that was written about." He commented a second later, resting his guitar across his lap in a more relaxed posture. He hadn't played this in such a long time, and he was glad that he'd cracked it out to play for her. She still looked a little sad, and he wondered if talking about it would help her feel better.

"Maybe a little." She smiled at him, clearly trying to erase the sadness from her mind. It wasn't working so well. Then she looked at him seriously and seemed to be weighing up whether or not she should tell him something. The longer he waited, the harder the choice seemed to become for her, until she just blurted it out. "It makes me think of my ex."

"Oh." That hadn't been the answer he was hoping even though he'd worked out that was who she was singing about. He felt awfully for her, that whatever she had experienced had been so painful that she understood this song, and how it was when it was written. Maybe because most of the songs he associated with Linda were happy he'd never experienced that. He wished he could tell Brody that he loved her, but this didn't seem like the time.

"Not in that way, more in the sense that no matter what happened now, he lost me once and I shouldn't let him in again." She shrugged gently and went back to looking at him seriously. "So it's really a song that reminds me to give people the chance to do better."

"Well, that's good then." He kept looking at her then leant forward and kissed her gently. When she returned the pressure he sat forward a little more, hoping that this moment would never end. A minute or an hour later, he wasn't sure which, they both needed to break for air, and he just looked at her panting slightly. Maybe her ex hadn't known how to care for this flower, but Pride was sure he could do a much better job if she gave him the chance. When she leant forward and kissed him again he knew she was going to let him try.


End file.
